A place to press my words…..

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“He Dropped the Ball!”

Last night I was at my son’s baseball game, which is always quite enjoyable – those kids really know how to play. Maybe the fact that I could never play makes their skills all the more impressive to me? I digress….

A player on the opposing team made a solid hit to right field, and the fielder made an amazing catch. You know, the kind where you dive, slide and catch it just before it hits the ground? Yeah, that kind of catch. Amazing!

Or was it?

Immediately the umpire (at home plate) yelled “OUT!!!” The base coach (right by the play) followed right behind with “He dropped the ball!”. But the ump kept his call. The base coach was graceful enough, and let it go – no drama. Good, I don’t like drama at baseball games.

But then I heard one coach on our side – one who had a good vantage point – say to the other coach, “Yeah, he dropped it”. Then – THEY dropped it. The coach didn’t speak up and say, “Yeah, my kid dropped it”. The kid didn’t speak up. Nothing. Just moved on….

Now, I am not here to call out the coaches – I don’t write this to publicly humiliate them. My guess is nobody reading this would know who the coaches are. Nor the kid who apparently dropped the ball – and he, like all the kids on the team, are just learning by example. I don’t write any of this to make them look bad. I write this, because I think we ALL “drop it” sometimes, don’t we? What is the speed limit? Yeah, I obey the law – but I’m in a hurry. An extra 10 minutes at lunch? I’m probably entitled to that, no? What’s the harm, a little dishonesty?

But – integrity is really important to us. So why are the smaller things so easy to overlook? Or to “drop”? Why do we not look at that as compromising our integrity? God does…

Could you imagine if God made little compromises, like we do? Jesus might have decided to accept any of satan’s propositions, or decided not to go to the cross after all. He said he could call an army of angels – he could have decided to do just that.

He trusted his Father though – completely. When we feel we MUST speed to get to our next location, are we trusting our Heavenly Father completely?

And our Heavenly Father gives us a perfect example to follow. And commands us to do just that:

…because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16)

“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48)

Lord, I pray that I can follow your perfect example, and be as close to that example as possible for my children. I know I’ll slip up – but I ask for the humility to be able to own up when I “drop it”, and the grace to avoid continuing in it. Lord, make me holy as you are holy – no doubt you are making me holy even now. Thank you for this…..